EAN and GTIN on Kaufland: requirement, product pages and common mistakes

What are EAN and GTIN?

The GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) is the globally unique item number printed under the barcode. In Europe it is usually known as the 13-digit EAN. It identifies exactly one product variant – every colour and size has its own number.

Why does Kaufland require an EAN?

One of the requirements for selling on Kaufland is an official EAN (GTIN) for all products. Kaufland uses it to match offers to the right product page. Without a valid EAN you cannot list a product.

One product page per EAN

When several sellers sell the same product, they share one product page. This has two consequences:

• Search ranks the product page – not your individual offer.
• The BuyBox decides who makes the sale.

For own brands with their own EAN, the product page is effectively yours – you control title, images and attributes.

Own brand: where do I get EANs?

Manufacturers and brand owners apply for GTINs at GS1, the organisation that issues the numbers worldwide. Be careful with cheap resold numbers from the internet: they may already belong to another product or company and lead to wrong matches.

Common mistakes when listing

• One EAN for several variants – every colour and size needs its own.
• Wrong match – your offer lands on someone else's product page because the EAN is wrong.
• Incomplete data – title, category, description, manufacturer and images are mandatory (titles, images).
• Missing translation – on other Kaufland markets, product data must be in the national language.

Using the EAN for rank tracking

In Kaufland Tracker you can add products by EAN, product link or Kaufland product id. The EAN is matched to the Kaufland product page automatically, then the tool measures the position for your search terms. The free rank check works with an EAN too.

Frequently asked questions